Army of thousands takes on locusts

HOHHOT: Inner Mongolia has been mobilizing 33,000 people, including 1,100 technical staff, over the past two weeks in a move to wipe out a plague of locusts, Gao Wenyuan, the regional Grassland Work Office director, told the Xinhua News Agency yesterday.

Five regional specialized teams were also sent to the affected areas to help eradicate this ruthlessly destructive pest.

About 1.3 million hectares of grassland in the region's three areas close to Beijing are affected, and another 560,000 hectares has been severely hit.